Orthodontics is having a great movement towards looking at the whole face instead of just the teeth. Forward thinking orthodontists and dentists are quickly realising that if we can encourage growth in the jaws at a very young age, that can reduce the need for orthodontic intervention further down the track.

These improvements to the childs jaws can also impact their quality of life. By developing the jaws correctly and opening up the airways, we can allowing more oxygen to reach the brain at these crucial years of development reducing issues such as bed wetting, snoring, ADHD and even increasing the IQ of a child in some cases.

When should we bring our child to see you?

The perfect age for us to see your child is 7. This is normally when the adult front teeth and molars have erupted through. This gives us an idea of how much space your child's mouth has, and what skeletal discrepancies there are, before the all important growth spurt begins. We can intercept any growth or development issues to prepare to mouth to fully accept all the teeth, usually preventing the need for teeth extraction.

There are certain cases in which tooth extraction may still be necessary.

If my child is younger than 7, what can I do now?

We would still love to see your child, even if they are younger than 7. We can encourage good habits, such as nose breathing and correct tongue posture during swallowing/speech, whilst also helping to break bad habits such as thumb sucking and bottle/pacifiers.